CurvyPixel's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Wind and the Rain]

Beautifully transparent piano piece

Hey Cimba,

--Production--
A single voice with plenty of nice reverb/delay effects. I honestly didn't realise it was a computer voice until about half way through. The dynamics are fairly nice and non-abrupt, but sometimes you feel like there is not enough variance in velocities, esp. in the LH. It also loops well.

--Experience--
It was nice and soothing, with nice differences in loudness. There are little to no changes in tempo, however, and I would have liked to see that. Also, in my mind, there needs to be more of a fullness about the song. Perhaps it's just too quiet.

--Style--
It's nice and soothing, which is achieved by the combination of reverb and changes in volume. Your composition is very nice and changes throughout. It's very classical, using some nice arpeggios, however at the same time it's modern, using modern beats and quickness of change.

--Wow Factor--
Most of seems like, "wow, this is beautiful", but after a while, you feel like "where is this going?" I think we need a change in tempo, or a recurring motif if you know what I mean. I'm not sure if you did, but you can try writing it in Sonata form, Introduce-Expose-Develop-Recapitulate -Coda. But that's just my 10 cents.

--Personal Tilt--
Thanks very much for sharing this with us. It's a very beautiful piece and might need a few touches, but is mostly emotional and transparent. I enjoyed the whole 2 minutes 40. Well done.

--Production-- = 13/20
--Experience-- = 15/20
--Style-- = 17/20
--Wow Factor-- = 14/20
--Personal Tilt-- = 15/20

OVERALL SCORE: 74/100

Benjamin

--REVIEW REQUEST CLUB--

Cimba responds:

Thank you for this awesome review. I'm going to get an updated version of this out that will hopefully be a real recording.

[Stargenx - Lament]

Amazingly composed and beautifully mastered

Hey Stargenx,

--Production--
Everything in this song fits together nicely. The orchestration is brilliantly mixed and mastered to produce plenty of that "full" sound that unprofessional songs lack. The soulful piano has that particular place that cuts through the noise, with emotional riffs.

--Experience--
This song has many states that the mind drifts into as it listens. I could see this as the orchestration to a movie, something as a plot unfolds, or a moment where it seems like there is no hope, but one must go on. I would be very excited to see this in a flash about hope and despair.

--Style--
It's very emotional and deep, and goes through several different stages. You know very well how to transition between high and low moods, for example when you go from all-out orchestra, guns blazing, to a sweet echo-y piano that you love. It's those beautiful moments that make the song.

--Wow Factor--
The last song I listened to of yours, "Love and Pain", I believed, was superbly produced, and wonderfully arranged, but lacked that X Factor that I wanted. That piece was minimalistic, but I would call this maximalistic. It's epic, it's grand, and encompasses a grander range of feelings than "Love and Pain" ever did. It brings that amazement with it.

--Personal Tilt--
I was thoroughly impressed with the general oversight of this song, that you knew where it was going and where you were going to lead us in your little "world" of your own. Thanks for sharing that with us.

--Production-- = 17/20
--Experience-- = 18/20
--Style-- = 20/20
--Wow Factor-- = 17/20
--Personal Tilt-- = 17/20

OVERALL SCORE: 89/100

Benjamin

--REVIEW REQUEST CLUB--

Stargenx responds:

Thanks for the review. You really go in-depth. It does represent despair and hope. I'm sorry I can't give you much more feedback on your very long and very informative review, but I can at least thank you for it now. I'm by no means professional.

[(CS3) - Stroll on Tenth A]

Smoky film-noir greaser

Hey camoshark,

--Production--
The overall sound of this song is full and nice to hear. There are some interesting dynamics I particularly liked about the production, for example the acoustic guitar. I wasn't sure whether that was panned to the right, but it had that nice "off-to-the-side" vibe to it, but not without alienating the user.

--Experience--
Stroll on Tenth Avenue brings nice espionage-esque feelings with it. The combination of the soulful brass with the smooth'n'easy basslines creates that fantastic spy-like vibe.

--Style--
Very jazzy, almost as if you're watching a film in black-and-white. The Shiva flute was a nice variance in the song, to add a bit of melody, and also to bring that oriental flavour to the piece.

--Wow Factor--
You always bring that masterful touch of composing to your songs, and this is no different. Supersteph's knowledge also comes in handy in bringing your songs from dry form to adding all the effects and stuff, I think. It's nice.

--Personal Tilt--
Refreshing. A very jazzy feel about it that portrays the feeling of secrecy and film-noir. I see that you've likened it to a detective story, and you pull that off with aplomb. Need I say more? Very smoky, beautifully composed song. Thanks for letting me listen.

--Production-- = 17/20
--Experience-- = 19/20
--Style-- = 20/20
--Wow Factor-- = 15/20
--Personal Tilt-- = 16/20

OVERALL SCORE: 87/100

Benjamin

--REVIEW REQUEST CLUB--

camoshark responds:

Hey Benny, nice hearing for you, sorry about not replying in the last few weeks, wasn't really into replying, even thought I read your other reviews.

Also, sorry about your account loss (or password loss for that matter).

Anyways, review :

Thanks for doing what you do, I always enjoy structured reviews. Speaking of wich, I also see you modified your structuring, wich is also a good thing, I guess!

One detail I notice most of the time is that my rating for the wow factor always stagnates around 15/20, wich bugs me a bit. For that, I'm asking you: How can I upgrade this score?

Thanks again for the thorough review, it's helping me get better and better every week!

Cheers

[One Tune Nation]

Not quite, but close

Hey Semaphore,

--Production--
Fair, to say the least. I feel the bass was unnecessarily sharp and loud, like a pure saw almost. The song had a bouncy feel to it, but everything felt out of proportion and not full. The sounds were clear and crisp, though, and it had a good-feeling vibe to it.

--Experience--
The song slowly builds up from the light to the intense. It's interesting how this song progresses. It definitely has a journey to it, but the problem is that the journey ends so suddenly. We need a less 'jolting' ending to it. It just seemed like it halted to a stop quickly and without warning.

--Style--
The style begins interestingly, then goes into more house-like fare. I understand that you're trying to combine ambient with it. But it sounded just like regular house to me. The attack and release for each of the synths was too low for ambient.

--Wow Factor--
I was impressed towards the end, but at the beginning, the sounds were so unbalanced that I couldn't figure out what happened. It didn't bring amazement at all. And we are just starting to bob our heads when it fades out.

--Personal Tilt--
Needs more length. I was just waiting for it to pop. I also don't think you quite pulled off the whole "Ambiehouse" thing, it just sounded like house to me. Maybe a longer buildup with more interesting ambient sounds before the house beat came in, would be good. Thanks for letting me listen.

--Production-- = 12/20
--Experience-- = 15/20
--Style-- = 14/20
--Wow Factor-- = 12/20
--Personal Tilt-- = 12/20

OVERALL SCORE: 65/100

Benjamin

--REVIEW REQUEST CLUB--

Semaphore responds:

I do feel almost the same.

It was my first try to do something housy but I stuck in ambient and these soft instruments don't really fit into the song.

I picked the wrong melody for a harder track.

But I'm fine with the mastering, I tried out new techniques and I think they worked, especially for the bassline =D

It was a stage I had to explore and in the future I will be prepared for some more housy songproduction ^_^v

thank you very much for your review CurvyPixel